Cannot do cruches :-(

B

beginner_exerciser

0
Alright, I recently started exercising, and my body is fine with the grind. I can do 20 minutes to half an hour jogging followed by push ups, squats and dumbbells, but when it comes to crunches, my body goes in rebellion mode.

I get my roomie to sit on my legs, and with her help, I can do about 4-5 crunches after which my body refuses to move up. If I try crunches on my own, then my legs automatically lift up into the air against all my will power. Also, if I keep my arms behind my neck, then I find it extremely hard to do crunches. The only way I can lift my body is if I keep my arms horizontally in the air. I know this sounds ridiculous, but pointers anyone???


This is soooo frustrating.
 
Well, unless your feet weight a tonne, it's no surprise that they come up when you try doing crunches on your own. Doesn't matter, though, because crunches don't matter. Almost everyone who speaks English and has come up with some fitness goal has done crunches, but relatively few human beings have ever done crunches in a way that is both safe and productive. Even if you could do them with perfect form, there's still probably better exercises for strengthening the core, if you even need to do core work.

Personally, I haven't had any direct ab work as a key feature in any of my routines since about 2008, yet if you felt my abs they're a lot tougher than the average person's -- this is because you load up the abs in damn near every exercise in the gym. My abs are built on squats, deadlifts, overhead presses and pull ups... you'll never lift 300lb off the ground without bracing your abs.

Your push ups will involve a fair amount of ab work and without knowing what db exercises you're doing, they'll probably be a leading cause of ab development for you. If you need more direct abs work after push ups, then do prone holds and side holds. A prone hold is simply getting into a push up position and holding it, keeping your abs in tight. A side hold is getting onto only one hand/arm and rotating out 90 degrees from a push up position, putting you into a human flag position. Do this on both sides to strengthen up the oblique muscles.
 
I must be one of those who can do crunches with weights on my arms without much trouble. If you're looking for ab exercises to strengthen your abs, try just planks with your arms holding you in pushup position, either leaning on your hands or elbows. If you're just trying to do crunches, might want to make your legs heavier first...
 
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